The life of Jesus, as recorded in the Gospels, is filled with singular events that are not found in the lives of others. That shouldn’t be surprising, considering who He is; but even with that, it can be hard to understand some of the things He did and why He did them. Nevertheless, Jesus never did anything without a reason, and often more than one reason. Everything became a teaching opportunity, both for His disciples and for us today. We just have to find what it is that He’s trying to teach us.
Some of those lessons aren’t so obvious. Jesus was dealing with a Jewish culture, steeped in the teachings and symbolism of the Old Testament. Much of that came through in His teaching. But for us today, who are not so familiar with the Old Testament, Judaism, or the symbology of prophecy, it is easy to miss the significance of what He said or did. We still gain meaning from it; but not the fullness of meaning that the people of that time might have received.
One such incident was when He cursed the fig tree. First, we must face the fact that His actions seem totally out of character. Jesus didn’t typically go around killing people or things, as that was not His purpose in being here. That was the purpose of the devil.
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. – John 10:10
Yet He did kill that fig tree, telling us that there was some real purpose in His actions. The only question is, what was that purpose?
We’ve Got to Interpret the Bible Correctly
The study of Biblical interpretation is called “biblical hermeneutics.” It only differs from other hermeneutics in that it focuses on interpreting the meaning of the Bible, not in interpreting the meaning of other ancient writings. The rules used in biblical hermeneutics are actually the same that academics use in interpreting the meanings of other ancient writings.
Hermeneutics can be extremely technical and complicated. But for the most part, there are only a few key rules that we need to keep in mind. The first and most important of these is that the Bible defines itself. In other words, the Bible will often tell us the meaning of words, by the way that the same word is used elsewhere in scripture. For the most part, the rule of thumb is to use the common understanding of the word, as it is used elsewhere in scripture.
Moving beyond that, whenever we are trying to understand something in scripture, it is essential that we take the context into account. Context can mean many things. There are many times when we can get clues from what comes before and after the passage we’re looking at, as well as who it was said to and the other events that surround the event we are interested in.
There’s also the possibility of symbolism taking a part in the meaning of scripture throughout the Bible. This causes us a bit of a problem; in that it is hard to determine when something is symbolic or when it should be taken literally. The rule of thumb here is that if it can be taken literally, first take it literally. Only assume that it has to be symbolic, and only symbolic, if it can’t be understood literally. For everything else, it is possible that the obvious literal meaning is hiding a symbolic one that we should look for as well.
The Significance of the Fig Tree
The people of Israel lived largely in an agricultural society. Because of this, much of the symbolism in the Bible has agricultural overtones. The parables which Jesus used to teach with, for example, are largely connected to agriculture. That doesn’t mean that their interpretation has anything to do with growing things, just that He used that symbolism to provide a context for the lesson He was giving.
There are trees and plants that God uses to identify the nation of Israel, both in the Old and New Testaments. Specifically, we find the olive tree used to signify religious Israel, as opposed to the vine, which signifies spiritual Israel. There’s also the fig tree, which is used to signify Israel’s national identity. This is important for our current study; in that we are concerned with a fig tree.
In the story, Jesus encounters a fig tree by the side of the road. This occurs in Matthew, chapter 21 and Mark, chapter 11. A reference to the fig tree is made in the form of a parable, in Luke, chapter 13. The accounts in Matthew and Mark differ in how quickly the fig tree withered; but that could be nothing more than the difference in perspective of the writers of these two Gospels. We will use both, starting with Mark.
Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it… 20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. – Mark 11:12-14, 20
We could easily miss the significance of the fig tree being without fruit, if we didn’t pay attention to the context of this story. This event happened during what is commonly called the “Passion Week,” Jesus’ last week before the crucifixion. That means that it occurred in the Spring, roughly the beginning of April on our calendar. Fig trees begin to show leaves in late spring, so the fact that this tree even had leaves is remarkable, as it was before the time to even have leaves. Nevertheless, it did have leaves, indicating the possibility that it might have some early figs as well.
The fig tree produces figs during two different time periods. The fuller harvest of figs doesn’t happen until September or October. But there is also an early growth of smaller figs, in the early part of June, just after growing leaves. These are likely the figs that Jesus hoped to find. Yet, even though the fig tree had leaves, it did not have figs. It was showing signs of false fruitfulness.
On the surface, Jesus cursed the fig tree for not having fruit, while pretending to do so. Upon His pronouncement of that curse, the fig tree began to die. Here, in Mark, it says that they saw it had “dried up from the root” the next day; but in the Gospel of Matthew, it says “Immediately the fig tree withered away” (Matthew 21:19). While the two accounts appear to be different, it is possible that Matthew noted the beginning of the process, while Mark noted the end result. In that case, the two accounts dovetail nicely together.
One other detail here is that the fig tree was alongside the road, rather than being in some farmer’s orchard. Jesus didn’t destroy the property of someone, He destroyed a wild fig tree. Because it was wild, He, or anyone else, could pick fruit from it. But because it was wild and didn’t have an owner, He could destroy it as well; just as Israel could be destroyed, if they weren’t submitted to the “ownership” or lordship of Jehovah God.
The Faith Lesson
Noting what happened, Jesus’ disciples commented on it, in both Gospels, attributing the withering of the fig tree to Jesus having cursed it. While there is a slight difference in the wording of the two accounts, the meaning is essentially the same. Jesus responded, turning this into a lesson about faith.
So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” – Matthew 21:21-22
Since Jesus was born as a man, He had to curse the fig tree in the same way that any of us would have to; by faith. Looking at His life, as depicted in the Gospels, it is obvious that His faith was perfect, allowing Him to work all manner of miracles. Yet, He promised that we would do the same and “greater works” (John 14:12). His example of how we would do this is by applying our faith in God, just as He did.
It is impossible to please God, without faith (Hebrews 11:6). We first have to believe that He is and then believe that He will provide us with the help that we need. He will reward us; but only as we diligently seek Him. That’s not the same as seeking the stuff that we ask Him for.
Please note that the faith movement in the Body of Christ has distorted the message of faith somewhat, mostly turning it into a materialistic message of how to receive stuff from God. But that’s not the faith message that Jesus taught. He talked about using faith to do things that needed to be done. The “great hall of faith” in Hebrews, chapter 11, doesn’t talk about them using their faith to get things from God, but rather using it to obey God and do what He called them to do. That’s the kind of faith Jesus is talking about.
This message of faith is as far as most believers today go with this story, not looking any deeper than the faith lesson. While that lesson is important; it’s not all there is. To see what else is there, we need to dig deeper.
The Symbolism of the Fig Tree
While there is a direct lesson to be learned from the withering of the fig tree, there is also something symbolic going on here. Jesus cursed the fig tree because it was presenting itself as giving fruit, while it had none. Likewise, there are people in our churches who can present themselves in church on Sunday morning, appearing to have fruit, while during the week there is no manifestation of that fruit.
We gain a better look at the symbolism, by looking at the context. This is easier to see in the Gospel of Mark. In that account of this event in Jesus’ life, we find Jesus visiting the Temple and throwing out the merchants and money changers in the Temple, sandwiched between Him cursing the fig tree and His disciples noticing that the tree had withered. In Matthew, he cleansed the Temple before cursing the tree. This connection between the two events must have significance, otherwise, it would not be here, especially as depicted in Mark’s Gospel.
We already know that the fig tree has a symbolic significance for Israel’s identity and blessing as a nation. We also know that Israel’s identity as a nation is largely centered around Moses receiving the tablets of the Law from God and building the Tabernacle, which was later replaced by the Temple that King Solomon built. While the Temple in the time of Jesus wasn’t that same Temple, it was directly connected to it.
The Temple in Jerusalem was created as a place of worship, offering sacrifices to God and praying to Him. Jesus Himself referred to this, saying:
“It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” – Matthew 21:13 & Mark 11:17
Yet, rather than using it as a place of prayer and worship, it had become commercialized. There are probably many things that contributed to this and it probably happened over many years, perhaps even centuries; but it happened nonetheless. We see that in the fact that there were money changers and vendors selling doves, within the temple courtyard.
The idea here was a bit of usury, disguised as helping the people in their worship to Jehovah God. Offerings at the Temple had to be made in the Temple Shekel. Yet the people who came to worship came from many lands which did not use the shekel. These money changers would gladly exchange their money to the right form, for a fee; most likely for an astronomical fee. But the people paid it, not realizing what was being done to them.
Likewise, those selling animals would offer a “service” to the worshippers; either by providing animals for sacrifice to those who hadn’t brought animals with them or by “inspecting” the animals brough. In the case of those inspections, the animals brought would always be found to have defects, necessitating the trading of that animal for one the inspector had, with a little money thrown in, to make up for accepting an “inferior” animal. The seller would then put that animal in their pen or cage, to be sold to the next likely sucker that came along.
The Failure of the Priesthood
The truly amazing part of this wasn’t the usury of the vendors, but that the priests allowed such usury within the temple grounds. This, more than just about anything else we can find, shows how the priesthood had been corrupted through the centuries and by the rule of the Romans.
Part of this can be attributed to the party of the Sadducees. We tend to hear the Pharisees and Sadducees as one term, equating the two groups in our minds. But they were, in fact, quite different. The Sadducees were the party of the priesthood, specifically the High Priest and all who were associated with him. Long before the time of Christ, they had abandoned their responsibility of representing the people before God and God to the people, as shown by their attitude that the daily, weekly and monthly sacrifices they offered were no longer in behalf of the people, but in their own behalf.
This change in the priesthood is actually what gave rise to the Pharisees. This group originated from the Scribes; the group responsible for accurately copying the scriptures. They became the teachers of the people, since the priests had given up this responsibility. Unfortunately, they leaned towards legalism, creating their own rules as a means of “helping the people avoid sin.” By the time of Jesus, their “rules of man” had all but supplanted the Law, removing meaning from God’s commandments.
Jesus never expected His cleansing of the Temple to create reform. He did it to show His Father’s displeasure in what they had made His Temple to be. Rather than being a place for people to come before God and repent, it had become a “system of sacrifices” which allowed people to pay a price and then continue in their sin. This is what Jeremiah was talking about, when he used the term “den of robbers,” which Jesus quoted.
Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods who you do not know, 10 and then come and stand before Me I this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations?’ 11 Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says the Lord. – Jeremiah 7:9-11
This passage isn’t referring to the money changers and sellers of animals as being the thieves, although they were. Rather, the concept is that of being a place where thieves hung out, in order to hide from being punished for their wrongdoing. Many had gotten the idea that they could sin till their heart’s content and then go back to the Temple, making the necessary offerings, and they would be all right.
Rather than repentance, the people were trying to buy their forgiveness, and the priests were allowing them to do so. The Temple had become a “den of robbers” in that it was the hangout of those who were committing sin – the robbers. They didn’t repent, but thought they were okay before God and man, because they had made the appropriate sacrifice.
This isn’t much different than people today, who think they can live their life of sin and then ask God for forgiveness. They are forgetting that God doesn’t require that we ask for forgiveness, but rather that we repent. That means changing our direction, so that we don’t return to our sin. Those who are just asking forgiveness, without repenting, are fooling themselves just as much as those who used the Temple as a den of thieves.
The Coming Destruction
But there’s something even deeper going on here, that is shown by the combination of the fig tree and the temple. We can see it from the vantage point of hindsight, but they would not have been able to see it on that day.
The time of the Temple was rapidly drawing to a close. Once Jesus had died on the cross and been raised from the dead, there would be no need for a Temple, as we would become the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Not only that, but the sacrificial system would be coming to an end, as Jesus would fulfill all requirements for sacrifices given on the altar, by becoming the last sacrifice, upon the cross.
By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. – Hebrews 10:10
When Jesus cursed the fig tree, He was also symbolically cursing the Temple and the entire religious system of sacrifice. This was done in preparation for His own sacrifice, allowing them to hang Him on the cross. He would not allow a competing system to continue; and in fact, the temple was destroyed not much later, in 72 AD.
Obviously, the Jews, and especially the Jewish leaders, including the priesthood, would have a problem with the destruction of their Temple and their religious system. We can see this in their own actions, as they repaired the veil, after God destroyed it, tearing it from top to bottom, when Jesus died (Matthew 27:51).
Had Jesus not cursed the fig tree and symbolically thought that cursed the Temple, the new religion that was about to be born, would likely have been aborted. His disciples and those who followed, would have been swallowed up by the Jewish religious system, adopting their legalism, in place of salvation by grace, through faith. We see this attempted in Acts, chapter 15.
And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” – Acts 15:1
This led to Pual and Barnabas traveling to Jerusalem, where they met with the apostles. The entire chapter deals with this, but ends with the apostles drafting a letter, telling believers in Jesus that they only had to follow a few simple commandments.
Applying the Lesson of the Fig Tree to Our Lives
There is much that we can learn from the lesson of the fig tree. First, there is the obvious lesson on faith, which I mentioned earlier. This is the lesson most often drawn from this story and it is a good lesson. As believers, we must live by faith if we are to please God. That doesn’t mean trying to use our faith to twist God’s arm and get Him to give us blessings; but rather using our faith to obey Him. He’ll take care of the blessing part.
But that’s not all. Just as the Temple had become a den of thieves, our churches can suffer the same. It is not really all that uncommon to find people in our churches who are living a life of habitual sin and going back to God, asking forgiveness over and over again. As I mentioned above, this isn’t all that different from the idea of the “den of thieves” that Jesus and Jeremiah were talking about. Our churches aren’t supposed to be a refuge for sinners, where they can come to feel better, without any change in their lives.
Remember, the problem with the fig tree was that it looked healthy, like it should have figs on it, but it didn’t. That’s analogous to Cristians who act like they’re holy in church, but don’t have the fruit of holiness in their lives. If the fig tree was cursed, how much more so are we subject to judgment?
In the book of Luke, Jesus told a parable about a fig tree. While not this instance, we can see a direct connection between the two.
He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ 8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’” – Luke 13:6-9
There is a contrast between this fig tree and the one that Jesus cursed. This one had an owner, while the one Jesus cursed was a wild fig tree. Likewise, you and I have an owner, Father God. In both cases, we find someone looking for fruit; Jesus from the wild fig tree and the owner of the fig tree in the orchard. The question is, do we, as a fig tree, have fruit in our lives; or are we just pretending to have fruit?
In the parable, the man in charge of the vineyard asks the owner to give the fig tree one more chance, offering to give the tree special care, in order to ensure a harvest. That is like the Holy Spirit in our lives, when we don’t produce fruit. Rather than allowing us to go to destruction, He gives us special care, spiritually fertilizing us so that we can bring forth the fruit of a believer; the Fruit of the Spirit, as found in Galatians.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23
For our lives to produce the fruit that God desires, we not only need the ministries of the Holy Spirit, we need repentance. The Holy Spirit gently confronts us with our sin, in an effort to bring us to repentance. When we do, we are able to grow, bringing for the fruit that we should. Without that repentance, the fruit will never truly show up in our lives.
The question we need to ask ourselves is whether we are showing the fruit that we should. Are we like either of those fig trees, taking up space, without producing fruit? If so, we need to repent and ask the Holy Spirit to help us grow and become spiritually healthy, where we can be productive and not just pretend to produce fruit. That “plastic fruit” is always visible to those around us anyway.